Software · head to head
Packer vs Puppet
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Packer packer 1.10.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence; Puppet the pricing page publishes no rate and no minimum, and asks you to fill in a form to be sent pricing and plan information
- They diverge on capability: Packer covers Image building, Puppet covers Manifests.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Packer and Puppet actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (open-source), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Packer
- Image building
- Multi-platform support
- Provisioners
- Builders
- Post-processors
- Data sources
- Validation
- Terraform
Only in Puppet
- Manifests
- Modules
- Classes
- Facts
- Puppet Master
- Hiera
- Facter
- Kubernetes
Both cover
- Variables
- AWS
- Azure
- GCP
- Docker
- On-premise deployment
- Cloud deployment
- Linux support
- Windows support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Packer
- Building identical machine images for multiple clouds from one templatenot Puppet
- Baking golden AMIs and VM images into a CI pipelinenot Puppet
- Creating immutable infrastructure artifacts consumed by Terraformnot Puppet
Puppet
- Declarative configuration management of servers at scalenot Packer
- Enforcing infrastructure compliance policy continuouslynot Packer
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Packer
- Packer 1.10.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
- The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Packer to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Packer
- Each version converts to the MPL 2.0 Change License only four years after that version is first published, and the Change Date is set separately per version
- Alternative licensing for uses outside the grant must be arranged with the licensor rather than taken under the public licence
Puppet
- The pricing page publishes no rate and no minimum, and asks you to fill in a form to be sent pricing and plan information
- Pricing is banded by number of managed nodes, with separate tiers for under 25 nodes and 25 or more nodes
- The product is split into Puppet Enterprise and a higher Puppet Enterprise Advanced edition, so compliance oriented features sit behind the upper tier
Pricing, plan by plan
Packer
Free- Open SourceFree
- Multi-platform image building
- Template-driven
- Provisioner support
Puppet
Free- Open SourceFree
- Puppet Agent
- Community support
- Full DSL
- Puppet Enterprise$100/month
- Puppet Server
- Console
- RBAC
Which should you pick?
Choose Packer if
- You need image building.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac.
- You also want multi-platform support.
Choose Puppet if
- You need manifests.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
- You also want modules.
Questions people ask
- Is Packer or Puppet better?
- Neither clearly leads. Packer starts at Free and Puppet at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Packer or Puppet?
- Packer starts at Free and Puppet at Free.
- Does Packer or Puppet run on more platforms?
- Packer runs on Linux, Windows, Mac. Puppet runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
- Can I use Packer for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Packer best used for?
- Packer is most often used for building identical machine images for multiple clouds from one template, baking golden amis and vm images into a ci pipeline, creating immutable infrastructure artifacts consumed by terraform. Of those, building identical machine images for multiple clouds from one template and baking golden amis and vm images into a ci pipeline are not what Puppet is typically brought in for.
- What can Packer do that Puppet cannot?
- Packer covers Image building, Multi-platform support, Provisioners, Builders. Puppet covers Manifests, Modules, Classes, Facts. Both handle Variables, AWS, Azure, GCP.